Pasla's CPM to contest 3 Lok Sabha seats

The Communist Party of India, Marxist (Punjab), led by Mangat Ram Pasla has decided to field candidates for three of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The party, a breakaway faction of the CPM, will contest the Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib and Jalandhar (reserve) seats. At a meeting here on Wednesday, the party decided to field Rattan Singh Randhawa from Amritsar, Gurnam Singh Daud from Khadoor Sahib and Darshan Nahar from Jalandhar. Randhawa is state secretary of the Border Area Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, while Daud and Nahar are leaders of the Pendu Mazdoor Sabha.

Mangat Ram Pasla, state secretary of the CPM (Punjab), said his party would try to reach an electoral understanding with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPM. “We have the backing of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) already,” he added.

“If an understanding is reached, then we can re-adjust our three candidates and field them in some other constituencies,” Pasla further said.